Meeting Bharia Tribe and Kareyam Village Tour Patalkot

Times Passion Tribal Trail is on its second day. Meeting Bharia Tribe and Walk through in Kareyam Village Patalkot was the highlight of the day. Patalkot valley is horse–shoe shaped, surrounded by hills giving it a dense green wrap. The pathways to reach the villages located inside the valley are not suitable for big vehicles. Tribal people residing here have two wheeler, or they make it to markets nearby on foot.

With Times Passion Tribal Trail we could get somewhat close to Kareyam village in two small matadors. We had to walk a further stretch of one km to reach their houses.

Patalkot Valley

Patalkot – Valley of Patalkot plunges 400 m deep into the earth and is surrounded by granite and sandstone rocky hills, dense and ancient forest rich with precious herbs useful for human ailments. The view of the deep pit was a welcome escape from the concrete tall towers of Bangalore. Blaring buzz of vehicles in the city streets gave away to the soft hum of birds.

Walking into this unexpected terrain, I sighted the narrow winding streets scratched by chicks guided by their mother hen in search of worms, and sidewalks grazed by goat kids. On an impulse I picked up one to fondle. To my surprise there was no resistance, instead it settled well into my cuddling arms.

Village life is like that, I concluded, very trusting and unquestioning!

Bharia House Kareyam Village

(Interestingly there is another village by the same name – Kariam also spelled as Karyam village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district of Punjab State, India.)

History of Patalkot

Shri Vasant Nirgune ji, our guide for Times Passion Tribal Trail, briefed us about the history and geography of Patalkot before we explored the homes of Bhariya tribe.

History of Patalkot – According to Hindu scriptures, Prince Meghnad son of Ravana, after worshipping Bhagwan Shiva, had gone to Patal-lok through this place. Patal Lok is the home of the demons and nagas (serpents).

Another version believed by the Bharia tribe of Chhindwara is that Sita Mata, from The Ramayana, merged into Mother Earth – Sita’s Patal Pradesh – at Patalkot. That explains the bowl shaped cavity of Patalkot.

There is yet another legend associated with this place: A demon called Bhasmasur, after attaining the boon of being able to reduce anyone to ashes just by placing his hand on their head from Bhagwan Shiva, rushed to place his hand on the giver of the boon. Shivji, realising his folly scooted heaven and jumped to earth on this very place causing this huge pit. Read rest of the story here –> Bhasmasura.

Geographical Composition of Rocks of Patalkot – The rocks are mostly by the Archaean era (the second of four geologic eons of Earth’s history, representing the time from 4,000 to 2,500 million years ago). The common rock forms are: Granite gneiss, green schists, quartz with Gondwana sediments including conglomerate sandstone, shales and carbonaceous shales.

Years back a similar lecture by my geography teacher in school days went over my head, but today I was seeing my geography teacher in Nirgune sir and was craving to hear more!

Kareyam Village signboard

How Bharia tribe evolved in Patalkot

It is said the Bharia tribe descended the valley of Patalkot centuries back and developed their culture, practices and lifestyle. They speak Dravidian language – Bharia. For centuries they hardly interacted with the outside world, because they were self-sufficient. In fact the settlements of the valley were discovered only a few years back.

Bhariya tribal people are an expert of the ‘Farm to Table’ concept that we are struggling to incorporate in our modern life. They have their own herbal remedies and hardly need any kind of foreign cure. Obviously, knowing all this info about Bharia people, I was curious how it would be like to talk to them.

Bhariya people are included in scheduled tribe category as per Indian constitution. It felt good to meet the younger lot. The lady at one of the houses cooking food on an earthen stove, with firewood collected from nearby jungle, is a BA Hons. in Arts.
There was one lad who was a post graduate in Mathematics.
A mother there said with pride that her children were studying in nearby Jabalpur city.

Bharia Tribe house in Kareyam Village Patalkot

Simple Architecture of Bharia Houses

Patalkot has 12 villages spaced 2 to 3 km apart. We walked through Kareyam Village of Patalkot. It is sparsely populated with just around twenty houses. Raw village scenes, with NO freshly popped facades or whitewashed walls greeted us. It was after noon when we reached the village; the residents were out on their verandas, probably catching up with each other.

They let us into their homes which are kuchcha (not concrete) houses made of wood, grass, bamboo and other tree branches built with their own hands. Interior was bereft of any furniture, just a cot and shelves on walls. No hoarding of clothes or any kind of fancy objects. The locks were missing, that reminded me how many doors I had locked at home before setting out on this journey. Such simple life, with no worry for tomorrow! They live on a day to day basis.

Kitchen too was simple with two or three earthen stoves. Some houses have gas cylinders, others use firewood collected from jungles. One young lady was shelling the pea pods. She was getting the stuff ready for dinner. They collect various forest products like tubers, roots and fruits to meet the demands of their daily survival. Life sans refrigerator is like this, I learned.

Bharia Housewife – Bharia Tribe in Kareyam Village

Their small single room toilets were located outside their homes. A wash basin and water tank attached to it. There was a workspace, coops, hay stacks and cowsheds behind their houses. Bikes and cycles were parked here.

Bharia tribe toilet Kareyam Village

I loved seeing their doors; though the paints of the doors had worn off they reflected the colourful artistic bent of mind of the residents.

Would you like a home stay in Patalkot?

I closed my eyes trying to imagine how long I will be able to live in such surroundings. I want to have a home stay here, but then decided such short visits are sufficient. Long stays here can disturb their lifestyle, though I will be enriched in the process. But coming back to city life I may forget the lessons learned.

I remember Ms. Shilpa saying, during our briefing in Tribal Museum on day one of our tour, that they are taking strong measures to protect the tribal people’s habits and lifestyle. We should be able to take back precious lessons from their lives but at no cost should we be able to influence and dilute their lifestyle. Therefore such short interactions are ideal.

Bharia House Kareyam Village Patalkot

Patalkot Valley

Of the 25 villages in Patalkot only 12 are inhabited, remaining 13 are deserted. However during rainy season these villages are cultivated. In some villages see day light for only six hours, 10 AM to 4PM. Some parts of this valley are so dark that the tribal people descend to those parts for only four months, when sunlight reaches the region, use it for agricultural purposes, take the harvest and leave for higher regions. The depth is almost 400 m from the highest point in Tamia in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh.

The valley is rich with several kinds of herbs, plants and trees. Bhariya people have a deep knowledge of medicinal plants. We met some Bhumkas (herbal healers of Bhariya) who showed us the different herbs and roots, and explained to us their different medicinal properties.

Tribal people of this region are fully dependent on these medicines; they never take any other kind of medicines. However we are dependent on their herbal medicines. These time-tested medicines are in huge demand and are available for purchase online.

More Interesting Facts of Bharia Tribe

‘Bhumia’, meaning Lord of the soil, is another name for Bharia tribal group. Some of the tribal communities identify the Bharia Tribe as ‘Bharia Bhumia’. The Bharia Tribe is found in many districts of Madhya Pradesh: Patalkot area of Chhindwara, Betul, Hoshangabad, Jabalpur.

Bharia Tribe is further categorised into clans like Thakaria, Angaria, Bapothia, Bhardia, Bijaraia, Mehania, Amolia, Papchalia, Nahal, Raotia and Gadaria. Several stories are associated with the origin of Bharia Tribe

Bharia Dress – Bharia men traditionally wear dhoti, lungi and bakki. On head they wear pagadi. They wear Kurta or shirt, Dhoti, Bandi safa on head.

Women wear cotton saree, make a neat bun with hair (judda). Their neck piece is called kardona. They adorn their hands with bankada, (a lot of bangles) and tattoos. On the forehead they put mang (parting of hair). On special occasions and festivals they wear a lot of beautiful ornaments.

Bharia Woman with tatoo on her hands

Bharia Social Beliefs

• Bharia’s consider themselves as the younger brothers of the Gond tribe. It is an undisputed practice and duty to marry a Gond widow.
• The head of Bharia family is honoured with the title of “Patel”.
• In Bharia society, different responsibilities are allocated different status. Some are: Bhumka, Bhagat (herbal doctors), Padihar, Kotyar. Bhumia is the priest of the village Gods. It is a very respectable designation for the people of this tribe.
• There are equal rights for both men and women in Bharia Society.
• 78 percent of the Bhariya households have nuclear families.
• The nuptial rituals of this tribe also have typical attributes and the marriage proposal always first comes from the boy’s side.

Bharia Man in Bharia Tribe in Kareyam Village

Bharia Tribal Dances – The cultural exuberance of the Bharia Tribe is prominently reflected through their songs and dances. Tribal dances vary from one tribe to another. They are performed on different occasions such as weapon dances, fertility dances, Sun and Moon worshipping dances, initiation dances, war dances, and hunting dances.

Bhadam and Saitam are the traditional dances of the Bharia tribe.

Bhadam dance is popular by many names, it is also called Gunnu Sahi, Bhadni, Bhadnai, Bharnoti or Bhangam dance. This group dance performed on the occasion of marriage and had catchy fun filled lyrics and tunes. Twenty to sixty male dancers and instrumentalists take part in this, the main instruments are the dhol (a percussion instrument made of wood, brass, leather, cotton, parchment and metal), timki (a percussion instrument made of earthenware and parchment) and cymbals (used in pairs, consist of thin, round plates of various alloys). During marriages this dance lasts throughout the night with some rest. Check out this short video: Bhariya Tribal Dance.

Saitam dance is a dance performed by the Bharia men and women. A male plays the dholak in the middle of the circle. Teenagers have a greater share in Saitham dance, on the occasion of marriage, young women do not get tired of dancing all night with Manjira or Chitkula in their hands. By walking and bending with hands, feet and waist, Saitam dance is seen like a wave of the pond. Check out this video: Saitam Dance Bhariya Tribe

Religious Belief – The people of the Bharia tribe follow Hinduism and worship many Hindu Gods and Goddesses. They celebrate Hindu festivals like Dussehra, Diwali and Holi. But influenced by other tribes they also worship tribal Gods and Goddesses like – Burha Deo, Dulha Deo, Barua, Nagdev, Bhimsen.

Economical Status – Previously they were temporary agriculturists but now they have adopted it permanently. They adopted the following things as their occupation: Laghu Vanopaj (agrarian), Collection of herbs, Bamboo art, wood sculpting, Making of brooms, Making doors of wood etc. See below their craftsmanship in the doors. They also work as labourers in the offices of the forest department.

How to Reach Patalkot

By flight – Fly to Jabalpur or Bhopal airport, and make a road trip from there. 

By train – reach Chhindwara Station from Bhopal/Jabalpur via Patalkot Express. From Chhindwara, a private vehicle/taxi can be hired to reach Patalkot.

Nearby Place to Stay

You can stay at Lets Camp, Tamia. They have well furnished camping facilities. We had sumptuous dinner and breakfast here.

Other Villages of Patalkot

Nearby Villages in Patalkot with Bharia Tribe – Rated, Chimtipur, Gujja Dongri, Sahra Pachgol, Harra-ka-Char, Sukhabhand, Dhurni malni, Jhiram, Palani Gaildubba, Ghatlinga, Gudichattri, Gaildubba, Ghana.

Interested more walks through remote villages of India? Check these:
Kaliagaon Village Walk in Bodoland, Assam
Sundarbans Village Tour in West Bengal

Conclusion

It was an enriching experience walking through the unspoilt village of Bhariya Tribe, Kareyam Village of Patalkot in Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh. Till some decades back who would have imagined people lived and had a world of their own in this deep gorge of Patalkot. Thanks to tribal trail curated and organised by Times Passion Trails (Times of India) and Madhya Pradesh Tourism under the Dekho Apna Desh and Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative.

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